The efficacy of quality control is well known and accepted generally by most if not all manufacturing industries. As the manufacture of articles becomes increasingly complex, quality control is used increasingly to ensure the integrity of the article at various stages of the manufacturing process. This is especially the case where the article is manufactured in multiple process steps or where the article is a component for use in an end use assembly, which is often performed by another manufacturer. Quality control thus includes inspection and testing of the articles, or components, at various stages of manufacture and prior to shipment to other manufacturers for inclusion in end use assemblies. The article is also likely to be subject to inspection or testing in its ultimate end use assembly.
Insert molded components are exemplary of articles manufactured in multiple manufacturing steps for use in an end use assembly. These components are formed by positioning an insert member in a mold cavity prior to injecting a molten material therein so as to form a molded housing member that at least partially captures the insert member so as to form the insert molded component. In electrical applications, the insert member is commonly a lead frame comprised of one or more electrical conductors coupled separably by one or more tie members. In one step of the manufacturing process, at least a portion of the lead frame is embedded in the molded housing member during the molding process so as to form a partially manufactured insert molded component. The electrical conductors are ultimately isolated electrically by severing the tie members of the lead frame. The tie members are severed prior to injection of the molten material in the mold cavity, or alternatively the tie members are severed in a subsequent punching, or stamping, operation which effectively removes the tie member. In other electrical applications, electrical components including conductors and passive and active circuit components are assembled with an electrical insert member of the insert molded component in a manufacturing step after the molding step.
The failure of an insert molded component, or other article, in an end use assembly frequently results in damage to the end use assembly, which may be considerably more costly than the mere cost of the failed article. It is thus generally necessary to inspect or test the article at critical phases of the manufacturing process. Insert molded electrical components, for example, are often inspected or tested so as to ensure that the electrical conductors of the lead frame are electrically isolated, or to verify proper assembly and operation of electrical circuits associated therewith. These articles are thus handled frequently, usually in batches, and are moved from station to station during the manufacturing process for molding, stamping, testing and inspection and other similar steps. The same is true of many other manufactured articles.
Heretofore it has been difficult to ascertain the degree of manufacture of an article as it progresses along the manufacturing process since it is very often not possible to visually detect whether a particular manufacturing operation has been performed. This is particularly so of more discrete operations including stamping operations performed on insert molded electrical components, which do not result in a readily observable change, as well as electrical circuit testing, which does not result in any observable change in the article. In some cases, for example, an insert molded electrical component may inadvertently skip over the stamping process or the testing process or some other critical manufacturing step, unbeknownst to manufacturing, personnel. The result is that the insert molded component, or other article, proceeds to a subsequent manufacturing step or is shipped in an incomplete state of manufacture. In other cases, the articles may be subject unnecessarily to one or more processing steps redundantly to ensure complete manufacture thereof resulting in production inefficiencies.
The inventors of the present invention recognize that it is desirable to provide means for identifying whether an article has been subjected to a particular stage of the manufacturing process. That is, to identify the degree to which the article has been manufactured successfully. The inventors recognize, however, that mere labeling or marking of an article is not always effective or sufficient for this purpose. The inventors of the present invention recognize further that it is desirable, and in many applications necessary, to provide means for preventing an intermediately manufactured article from proceeding to a subsequent manufacturing step or from being used in an end use assembly until all required prior manufacturing steps are completed by providing an appendage that physically prevents the intermediately manufactured article from combining, assembling, cooperating, or any physical interaction, with the end use assembly.
The known prior art does not address the foregoing problems, and for these reasons as well as other considerations there exists a demonstrated need for an advancement in the art of indicating a degree of manufacture of an article.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for indicating a degree of manufacture of an article that overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for indicating a degree of manufacture of an article useable in an end use assembly by forming at least one removable appendage protruding from an article manufactured to an intermediate degree, the removable appendage providing a visual and tactile indication associated with the degree of manufacture of the article, the removable appendage alternatively including a visually perceptible notice located thereon, and the removable appendage configured to prevent use of the article manufactured to the intermediate degree in an end use assembly.
It is another object of the invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for indicating a degree of manufacture of an article useable in an end use assembly, wherein the article manufactured to an intermediate degree includes at least one removable appendage protruding from the article, the removable appendage configured to alter a profile of the article thereby preventing physical interaction of the article manufactured to the intermediate degree with an end use assembly, which includes further manufacturing, processing, inspection, and testing steps as well as the ultimate article use.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for indicating a degree of manufacture of an article useable in an end use assembly by removing a removable appendage protruding from the article upon completion of an intermediate or final manufacture step, whereby existence of the removable appendage is indicative that said step has not been performed and the absence of the removable appendage is indicative that said step has been completed.
It is a more specific object of the invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for indicating a degree of manufacture of an insert molded component by forming a removable appendage protruding from the insert molded component manufactured to an intermediate degree, the insert molded component having a molded housing member capturing an insert member, the removable appendage protruding from at least one of the molded housing member and the insert member.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for indicating a degree of manufacture of an insert molded component useable in an end use assembly by forming a removable appendage protruding from the insert molded component manufactured to an intermediate degree, the insert molded component having a lead frame at least partially embedded in a molded housing member, and the removable appendage coupled to at least one or both of the lead frame and the molded housing member, the lead frame having at least two electrical conductors coupled separably by a tie member, the removable appendage removable upon or after electrical isolation of the electrical conductors in a subsequent processing step, whereby the presence of the removable appendage is indicative that the electrical conductors are not electrically isolated, or that the insert molded component has not been tested or inspected subsequent to electrical isolation of the electrical conductors.